New Delhi: To connect important religious and tourist places between Bhavnagar and Somnath in Gujarat, four road projects worth Rs 2,640 crore have been awarded, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) said on Monday.

“Two hundred and fifty six km long Bhavnagar to Somnath section of NH-8E (New NH-51) is an important link to connect religious and tourist places of Talaja, Mahuva, Palitana, Island of Diu, Somnath Temple, Gir National Park, Porbandar and Dwarka… NHAI has awarded contract for 4-laning of four packages of the section of a total length of 175 km,” NHAI said in a statement.

“The total cost of these four packages is Rs 2,640 crore (civil construction cost) and project road would be a cement concrete highway,” NHAI said.

The project will also provide improved connectivity to ports of Alang (the biggest ship breaking facility and recycling yard of India), Pipavav, Jafarabad, Gogha and Veraval (fishery collection and trading centre), it said.

The authority said that it expects to award contracts by July this year for the remaining sections of the road project, whose overall cost is Rs 4,876 crore.